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Hope for Return of Stolen Medal of Honor Watch

Few people have been prouder of their Father than Vancouver’s Penny Ross. And she has every right to be proud of her Dad, retired Navy Lieutenant Commander Donald K. Ross.

Most of us of the baby boomer generation grew up with fathers that served in World War Two and performed heroically and are also proud of their sacrifices.

But Penny’s father went well above and beyond on December 7, 1941, not just surviving the attack on Pearl Harbor, but becoming the very first recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War Two for his actions aboard the U.S.S. Nevada.

He passed away in 1992, leaving his Medal of Honor in the care of Penny who has proudly displayed it at commemorations of the December 7 attack.

Sadly, Penny returned to her home late afternoon January 19 only to discover someone had broken in and burglarized her home. They stole a computer, some jewelry and although they missed her father Medal of Honor, they did steal the watch he also received.

While some of the items have been recovered, the watch remains missing and as one would expect, Penny would like it returned.

Below are photos of another MoH recipients’ watch that would look like the missing one, the difference being engraved on the back would be the name, Donald K. Ross and 6/280. The watches were presented to Medal of Honor recipients when Ronald Reagan was President by the Seiko Watch Company. (I was just informed by Penny that her Dad’s name was not engraved on the back, just the number 6/280)

Should you see someone selling this watch or on display in a pawn shop, it is stolen! It has not been authorized for sale by its owner who wants it back in honor of and in the memory of her Father, a real hero.

Whoever stole this watch, you cannot steal someone’s honor or valor. It is theirs for eternity. You may steal a symbol of their valor and wrongfully claim it as yours, but you are still just a cheap, common thief.

If you have this watch or know who does, do the right thing and return it. It is not a common watch and the likelihood of you being caught with it are very good.

You may contact me through this blog to return it or through your Police Department, I will not give out Penny’s contact information.

Please, if you see this watch, help get it back to its rightful owner.

4 Comments to “Hope for Return of Stolen Medal of Honor Watch”

“For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage and disregard of his own life during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. When his station in the forward dynamo room of the U.S.S. Nevada became almost untenable due to smoke, steam, and heat, Machinist Ross forced his men to leave that station and performed all the duties himself until blinded and unconscious. Upon being rescued and resuscitated, he returned and secured the forward dynamo room and proceeded to the after dynamo room where he was later again rendered unconscious by exhaustion. Again recovering consciousness he returned to his station where he remained until directed to abandon it.”

Some few folks among us can appreciate Commander, (then Machinist) Ross’s actions. Far more than the strategic impact of moving the Nevada that day, Few people understand the magnitude of the challenge, nearly singlehandedly keeping the engines running and the ship underway, under the conditions and while under attack.

This is absolutely the lowest of lowlife scumbags who decided they had the rights to a fallen hero’s family heirloom for which the honor of a man who risked his life to make our lives free, has been needlessly ripped away…a memento not only from their possession, but also from their hearts. For those of us who will be attending the Antiques and Collectibles show at the Expo Center this weekend…

WE WILL BE LOOKING FOR THIS WATCH!!!

Lew, if you don’t mind, I would like to print out this article you have presented and would like to hand out copies to the vendors who are selling military memorabilia as well as watches, so that they would have a way to contact you OR the authorities, and would have a way to trace this watch back to the family…should it show up at their stands.

This past weekend, we held an estate sale for a friend of ours whose father had received a purple heart during WW-II. Another lowlife scumbag found it in himself to dig around in a small box in a cordoned-off room which was off limits to all…and he had tossed the family’s cremated remains across the floor. He had damaged the box in which the purple heart was contained. The box was already fragile and the information regarding his purple heart was damaged beyond repair. Although the purple heart is still with the mementos, it’s the fact that someone has violated what memories the surviving relatives might have. They made off with some costume jewelry which was already deemed of little worth…but it’s the fact that these lowlife PIGHEADS have absolutely NO regard for our fallen heroes and have absolutely NO regard for humanity.

Karma will most definitely hit these lowlife scumbags…and their families are the ones who will pay the ultimate price.